COACH CHIZIK: I couldn't be more proud
of our football team, and our fans deserve this.
The Auburn family deserves it. Our football team
has been probably one of the most resilient group
of young men I've seen in 25 years of doing this.
Everything they got tonight they deserved.
They worked extremely hard over the last four
months to be able to get to this point. It's a team
that again, as I've said before, they're brothers and
they have a lot of love in that locker room between
them. I think that's one of the huge reasons we're
sitting where we're at.

I feel like -- as I told them before the game,
I felt like this was going to be our finest hour
tonight. I felt like we were going to play great.
They were prepared. They were focused. They
were locked in. And I think they played like it. So, again, very proud of our football team.

Very proud for the Auburn family and everything that I feel like they deserve. And when we get done with this, obviously we'll take questions that have to do with this football game and any of the previous games. And, again, we'd like this to stay football related.

THE MODERATOR: Cam, comments from you.

CAM NEWTON: All right. I want to thank
my teammates, my family, my coaches, and my
Auburn family for their support. It means a lot to
me to be on this team and be a part of the Auburn
family. As I said before, I've done nothing wrong.
I'm only going to answer questions about
football in this game. So I ask that you please
respect that, and thank you so much.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. Coach, you're 13-0 now. I'm
wondering if you remember now two years ago
when the guy had the video running on
YouTube about we need a winner here, we
don't -- Cam, sounds like you remember that --
where that guy is, what message you would
have for him and how amazing it is, the path
you've had since that video? And maybe Cam
wants to talk about it too.

Q. Cam, could you describe that pass
play, the hail Mary, at the end of the half, did
you feel pretty good about it when you let it
fly?

CAM NEWTON: No. We've been in that
situation before in practice, and repetition is the
key to success. Coach Malzahn, Brian watches us
in what we're supposed to do in different situations,
and when the time came for us to make a play for
that, Darvin did an excellent job in kicking the ball
in the air. The offensive line did an excellent job
protecting, so it gave me time to throw the football.

Q. Cam, a year ago junior college and
you're the SEC champion and you won it in
your hometown. How does that feel?

CAM NEWTON: It feels -- words can't
explain how I feel right now. 365 days ago from
this date I was at Blinn College, winning a junior
college national championship. It's a wonder what
God can do in a person's life, in such quick
fashion. I thank him every single day before I -- as
soon as my feet touch, my knees touch, thanking
him and blessing me with so many guys that's
influential in my life, directing me in the right ways.
And I can't even be more happier than I am right
now.

Q. You seem to utilize the fan support a
lot today. Could you describe how much that
meant to you today?

COACH CHIZIK: It meant a lot. Anything
that I could do to show my gratitude to these fans,
I'm willing to do. And at the time I felt like, you
know, nobody was going around the field and
giving those fans that was on the other side their
credit and what they've done today, because
without those fans, it's no wonder where we would
be right now.

Because, as we say as a team, that's our
edge, having the Auburn Nation right behind us
and screaming fans, that's what we build off of.

Q. Cam, you guys could talk about the
difference between converting nine of 12 third
downs and holding them to five of 12, I believe.

Gene Chizik celebrates after the victory at the Georgia Dome.

COACH CHIZIK: Are you talking to me?

Are you talking about third down conversions? I,couldn't hear you. I think the third down conversions were huge today. And they're one of the tops in the leagues in being able to convert third downs. That was one of our goals going in I thought Coach Roof did a good job third down planning tonight. Always the key is to get pressure on the quarterback. I thought he did a great job mixing in different blends of blitzes and four-man pressures, and I think that was a huge part of the ballgame. And then, conversely, I think offensively we were big in the third down arena. So, again, it was a great team deal.

CAM NEWTON: Darvin is the definition of
a complete football player. He blocks. He
catches. And whatever Coach asks him to do, he's
willing to do it. And that just goes to show you
what he did today, just the little things that we see
every single day out of Darvin Adams.

Q. Coach, your thoughts when that
pass on the last play of the half, when it was in
the air, did you think there was a chance? And,
also, how important was that and swinging the
momentum back to you for the rest of the
game?

COACH CHIZIK: I think that was a huge --
it was a huge turning point in the game. We had
two plays left when we got the ball back. The only
way we were going to do that is if we felt like
position field-wise we could take one shot, try to
eat up 10, 12 yards, get in range where Cam could
throw it.

And it really all started with a squib kick
that we were able to get the ball out to decent field
position. We took one shot. We knew we only had
two left on the clock. We took one shot. We knew
Cameron can throw that ball 70 yards in the air or
whatever the case may have been at that point.
And he's done it in practice. So we said let's throw
that up and see if we can't get a big play out of it. I
think it was a huge momentum swing before the
half.

Q. I ask this knowing you were part of a
team that had Vince Young on it and won a
national championship. But have you ever
seen a better college football player than
Cameron Newton?

COACH CHIZIK: No. It's that simple. No.
If you look over a 13-game span, I've never seen
anything like it, to be honest with you. And it's
running the ball, it's throwing the ball. Usually
great quarterbacks usually do one or the other
better, meaning throw the ball or run the ball.
I think what Cam -- what God's blessed
Cameron with is the ability to be really, really good
at both. And I can say this -- well, we have one
game left, so he can't get too big of a head with
one game left, but I can say he's probably the best
football player I've ever seen.

Q. Cam, Coach Chizik has talked about
this before and complimented you on it. Your
focus specifically down the stretch, how have
you done that? How have you maintained that
focus because it's been so incredible?

CAM NEWTON: It's easy for me. A lot of
people don't realize or recognize my supporting
cast. And you can believe that Coach Chizik is a
part of that supporting cast. People behind the
scenes that's helping me to do the right thing and
keeping my head clear and free of any distractions
leading up and to the games.

With this team, with my teammates, with
my coaches, with my family and friends, you know,
it's been an honor just to be a player and to have
that type of support going in game in, game out,
day after day.

Q. Coach, did you think you'd be here
in the springtime, here in December?

COACH CHIZIK: You know, we really kind
of live by the mantra of one game at a time, one
play at a time, one day at a time and one game at
a time.

I felt like there was enough in place where
if the chemistry of the team unfolded correctly, I felt
like that we had a chance to have a really good
football team. How good, I did not know.
How they had the ability to overcome a lot
of adversities and the things that they've done
wasn't really sure about that, because you never
know. But as the season went on, it became very
apparent to me and all of our coaches and our
players that we could definitely be sitting here on
December 4th.

Q. Cam, with the Heisman trophy next
week, is your dad going to be allowed to go to
the ceremony with you with him being
disassociated with the program?

COACH CHIZIK: We're going to stay
away from those questions right now and stay
football related, please, with all due respect.

Q. You guys literally exploded out
there today. Was it because there was so
much on the line with the BCS championship
and undefeated season, Cam's Heisman
trophy, did that play into it a lot?

COACH CHIZIK: You know, when we
started -- when we won a very tough road game
last Friday, we came back and we went right back
to work. I'm not sure it wasn't the best week of
practice we've had in terms of focus and
preparation.We always talk about the last six inches of
everything we do is the most important thing that
we can do. And literally we were down to the last
six inches of our season with the possibility of
accomplishing a lot of goals. So they were focused. Can't tell you, you know, all the reasons why they played X, Y and Z, but it was probably the most complete football game we've played as a football team in the last month or so.

And they were focused. And there was no
way that -- if you looked in our guys' eyes before
we left the hotel for this stadium, there was no way
in 60 minutes that someone was going to take it
away from them. I saw it in their eye and I told
them it was going to be their finest hour, and they
played really good.

Q. Cam, you had a lot of second half
drama this year, where you brought the team
back. Today you guys just got clicking right off
the bat, scored the first three possessions. Is
that the best you guys have played coming out
of the gates? And how good did you all feel
during that first half?

CAM NEWTON: We felt great going into
the second half. Our focus was to finish and focus. For this team, we have so many times we had to pay attention on striving to come back in games, but now we were tested to try to put a team away. And coaches stressed the fact that we
need to finish and we need to execute, because
the first half, yeah, we scored points, but that
wasn't the best that we had in our arsenal, and we
just had to come out and finish.

Q. Cam, people obviously like to talk
about how you like to beat teams with your
legs and your ability to do that. Talk about
your passing game, how much you worked on
the passing game.

CAM NEWTON: Could you rephrase it,
please.
Q. A lot of people talk about how you
have the ability to beat people -- teams with
your legs. Talk about your passing game, how
much you worked on the passing game for this
particular game.

CAM NEWTON: I'm a quarterback, and
that's a football player, as simple as that. I train
with excellent weight training guys and excellent
coaching staff that tries to attack the defense in
every single way, whether it be running, whether it
be passing, and I feel as an athlete, as a football
player as a whole, you know I want to attack the
defense and not be one-dimensional and just take
what the defense gives me.

Q. Cam, could you talk about what it's
like when you think about playing for the whole
thing here in about a month and playing in that
big game on that stage?

CAM NEWTON: Honestly, it hasn't even
sunk in right now. I just been living the dream this
whole year I've just been living the dream, and I
thank God for putting people in my life that has my
best interests. And I can't stress it enough how
blessed I truly am. And I just thank the people that's in my corner.

Q. Coach, in '04 Auburn left this field
undefeated but was denied a chance of playing
the BCS championship game. With that in
mind, how does it feel knowing you will get that
chance now?

COACH CHIZIK: You know, as Cam said,
the feeling of winning this game is really kind of
where we're all at. I think obviously we just feel so
blessed. And God's given us an opportunity to
really, as a team, have so many great things and
so many good things happen to us.
We know that we're excited about it. I'm
like, Cam, it hasn't really set in yet. I know that's
where we're going. Very proud, because there's a
lot of people responsible for us getting there,
meaning players and coaches, other than myself.
And feel very humbled, and I'm sure it will
probably sink in a little bit later. A little bit more.

Q. Cam, a lot of the guys have been
through this award circuit that you're about to
go through, have said it's kind of a grind. How
do you stay focused knowing that that big
game is out there in about a month?

CAM NEWTON: I said it before, and it's
the people in my corner, my supporting cast. And
those guys -- I don't know who is going to talk to
me. I don't know when they're going to talk to me,
but come game time, I feel like I'm mentally ready
for what I'm about to embark on, whether it be a
coach, whether it be somebody around the
program, whether it be a teammate or a family
member. I just feel like every single game, every
single -- whatever I'm about to -- the task I'm about
to take at hand I feel I'm prepared for.

Q. Cam, talk a little bit about this is an
exclamation point you put on the Heisman
candidacy, talk about it and what you think
your chances are.

CAM NEWTON: Well, I don't know. I
leave that up to the voters. I really don't like to talk
about any individual awards with me, because
without that team, without the coaching staff
having faith in me, trust in me to make the plays,
without those guys I wouldn't be where I am right
now. So I'm going to leave that up to the voters
and we just wait and see what happens.

Q. Cam, for those of us who didn't
cover many of the Blinn Junior College games,
did you ever get tackled in junior college?

CAM NEWTON: Yeah, I got tackled.

COACH CHIZIK: Not very often, probably.

CAM NEWTON: I got tackled. But, no, with Coach Brad Franchione, the head coach at
Blinn right now, you know I have lasting
relationships with my teammates then that I would
take to my grave. I still try to keep in touch with
those guys at Blinn. And I hope them the best.

Q. I saw your Q&A with Sports
Illustrated. Talk about a defining moment that
you've had as coaching. You talked about the
fourth down play in the Rose Bowl. How does
this stack up?

COACH CHIZIK: Well, you know, two
different scenarios: one being an assistant and
one being a head coach. And, again, I just feel so
blessed to be the head coach of an organization
that topdown has their priorities right. And Jay
Jacobs (athletic director) and Dr. Gogue (Jay Gogue, university president) and everybody in
the administration, they've got it all right. They've
got it right.

I think that's one of the reasons that we
have the opportunity to be where we're at. I don't
know what defining moment was the exact one in
this season that maybe gave me the feeling that
we would be able to be in Arizona. I think it was
probably an accumulation of moments.
But I know that as the season went on, as I
said earlier, we knew we had a chance.

Q. Cam, there were several
opportunities today where it looked like you
were going to get sacked or tackled and it's
almost as if the Carolina defenders were trying
to tackle smoke. Could you sense that they
were maybe getting frustrated? Were they
talking amongst themselves?

CAM NEWTON: Going into this game,
you know, we felt like it was going to be hard. It's
a very cliche thing to say it's hard to beat a team
twice. South Carolina played their heart out today.
You could sense it from every snap they gave it
their best.

And we were giving our best as well. When they tried to tackle me, for a player, I'm really honestly scared to get tackled so my defense mechanism went up and I just didn't want to hit the ground. And I closed my eyes and squenched it,
and when I opened them I still wasn't down, so I
tried to find an open receiver.

Q. Coach, could you talk a little bit
about T'Sharvan Bell how he stepped up as a
sophomore and made some huge plays for you
guys defensively?

COACH CHIZIK: Right. Really proud of
T-Bell. Really proud of him. In the last month or
so, I think he's probably one of the most improved
football players on our defensive side of the ball.
Just a guy who has come into his own.
He was a little dinged up earlier in the year
and missed about two or three weeks. He came
back strong. He's healthy now. In the last two
games made two huge plays for us that everybody
could see. But there's a lot of plays he's made
behind the scenes that nobody would probably
notice. But you can certainly tell he's on the field.
He's made an impact for our defense and really
proud of the way he's come on and really helped
our defense in the last month.

Q. Cam, this is for you, can you put
into words the feeling of being on your
teammates' shoulders there at the end of the
game?

CAM NEWTON: At first I really thought
they had something up their sleeves because so
many people were looking at me and so many
people were coming at me. So I was just looking
around. But Mike Berry and Ice, those guys are
some terrific teammates. And good human beings,
to say the least. And when they told me they
wanted to put me on their shoulders I thought it
was a joke at first. But as I went up in the air, it hit
a part of my heart that I will never take away.
I'm just blessed to be on this team with
those type of teammates. And I wouldn't trade this
in for nothing.